Happy Thanksgiving

We traveled to Matthews for Thanksgiving this year. I forgot to bring my camera and our jackets! However, we had a great time with family and friends. Today we spent the day trying to get back in order. In the past few days Nathan has figured out that he can roll around to get places. This morning I found him playing in his toy basket!

Baby food business

Nathan has come a long way in his experience with food over the last two weeks. He started like this
After about 3 days of trying rice cereal, I relented to the fact that my baby boy may be interested in something with a little flavor. So I whipped up a leftover sweet potato. Nathan went to town (as they say). I realized quickly that our food budget will be going up!

We moved quickly from the sweet potato to mashed bananas to green beans and to butternut squash. After he devoured an entire banana with little interest in the rice cereal, I ground some oatmeal we had in the pantry.

Can you tell that he's a little more interested?

This morning Ryan fed Nathan, Emma restrained his hands and I smiled on the inside!
I toyed with the idea of actually purchasing baby food (as a supplement) this time around. After seeing how much this boy can already put away, I quickly did the math and realized that it would cost at least $1.50 per meal to fill him up. I'm way too much of a cheap skate to dish that out. So I'm in the baby food making business again.

Ryan

I often wonder how Ryan will "turn out" when he grows up. I was tickled when I found him the other day peacefully sleeping with books all around. I know that the time I spend with him is much different than the one on one time Peter got and for that matter the one on two time that Emma got. It's always encouraging to find any of the kids snuggled in with books.

5 months

It's hard to believe that Nathan has crossed into the 5 month stage. It seems like just yesterday he was
and now he's sitting up, laughing, drooling and
.

Family Friday

This week we decided to head to downtown Raleigh to visit the NC History museum. It's been a long time since we've visited and the kids have never been. I was glad we got there right when the museum opened. We were able to get through the majority of the exhibits before the hoards of school children arrived.

After we finished the museum we had a snack and then headed to Applebee's for lunch! Yes, I gave my kids a snack right before lunch. It was a beautiful day to spend in Raleigh and with the family.

After our lunch, we headed to Cary for a visit with my grandparents. It was a fun day.

Mondays

I have yet another confession to make: I like Mondays. I'm actually a bit tempted to say that I love Mondays. For me they bring a fresh beginning, a renewed vision and a return to structure and routine. I have found myself just really enjoying Mondays. We seem to really get a lot accomplished in the home on Monday. I'm excited (and not tired) about what's to come for the week. Here's a picture I snapped this morning.
People often ask how school is going since Nathan's been born. I typically respond that now it's a piece of cake compared to what it will be like when he becomes mobile!
Peter's collecting rocks.
Emma's cutting out pictures of unicorns for a book we're writing together.
Ryan's trying to stay out of trouble
Nathan's chewing on his toys! What could be better on a Monday morning.